May 2014 - Clover Hill Diaries - Join Me and Be the Change

Conspiracies theories, spin doctors, whistleblowers, power and leverage everything but lust

Like a phenomenal amount of people I am addicted to the TV show “House of Cards”

The more I watch it the more I question why. The main character Frank Underwood is so evil and so Machiavellian each new episode of the show depresses me more. On reflection I think I watch it to remind me that ‘fair is never equal” and I need to toughen up.

As I watched it yesterday this story popped up on my twitter feed Hoping to Kill off Competitor Parmalat goes after A2 Milk. It caught my attention as I found myself in the middle of the controversy after The Australian picked up content in my post A2 snake oil merchants in the firing line.

My goodness doesn’t this story in The Age have everything. Whistle-blowers, conspiracy theories (even Dairy Australia gets a mention), secret meetings, controversial spin doctors and the best one of all it appears to be promoting scientific theories that have no sound science behind them.

Are they saying Malcolm Riley Head of Nutritional Research at CSIRO’s Animal, Food and Health Sciences division in Adelaide doesn’t know what he is talking about? Surely I have misunderstood???

Malcolm Riley, head of nutritional research at CSIRO’s Animal, Food and Health Sciences division in Adelaide, said some claims made about A2 milk — not all promoted publicly, however, by its manufacturer, the A2 Corporation — were staggering, extending to the cure and prevention of heart disease, asthma, eczema, schizophrenia, diabetes and even autism.

“These are such serious claims that if they were true, everyone would switch to drinking A2 milk, but the scientific evidence and the trials in humans just aren’t there now,” he said yesterday. Source Sue Neales
The Australian April 05, 2014

Well I have had a few whistleblowers contact me since The Age and the SMH released their David and Goliath victim stories

I am now led to believe that the A2 corporation is spending big money on a White Knight rescuer PR company and have I believe engaged ( I won’t say controversial because I have no idea what The Age used as their definition of controversial) the very interesting Ian Smith who is the driving force behind Bespoke Approach — a boutique lobbying firm.

As I don’t move in these circles and his name was unfamiliar to me I did a Google search and this was what I found

Bespoke was established by Ian Smith, one of the more plugged-in political and business consultants in the nation, the chief executive officer of the high-powered public relations firm Gavin Anderson and Company (Australia) and former chief adviser to Jeff Kennett when Kennett was Victorian premier.

This conservative insider also happens to be married to former Australian Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja. Source

And believe it or not this content from a previous piece in The Age

“He loves political leverage and has an ability to insert himself into power situations … Ian Kortlang [a well-known PR consultant] used to say that for Smithy it’s all about lust, leverage and dollars.”

Bespoke may not have one of the longest client lists but it does have one of the most impressive. We’re talking about big companies with big issues on their plate: Woodside Energy, Petrochina (the world’s second largest company by market capitalisation), Huweiwei Technologies (the world’s second largest exporter of telecom equipment), coal giant Xstrata and beer behemoth Fosters.

“The magnitude of the issues and the quality of the client book is something I’m particularly proud of,” Smith says. Read more here

Well I didn’t notice any ‘lust’ in this story but ‘leverage and dollars’ do come to mind and apparently the A2 corporation may just have big issues on their plate or in a glass in this case

This is my perspective. This is not a story about

Parmalat vs. A2 Corporation

Goliath vs. David

Big vs. little

Its a story about

Fairfax vs. Murdoch

Big PR vs. Big PR

Lactose free milk vs.Perceived lactose free milk

Real science vs. flawed science

All milk is good for you vs perceived A2 milk is better for you

I am fascinated by this interesting quote in The Australia from the A2 Corporation

“We are good at marketing but we are also evangelical about the product”

Yes I will agree A2 you are very good at marketing but evangelical oh my goodness that’s a bit scary Definition here

I have said my piece. The only thing that I am interested in is I know the science behind A2 being better for you is flawed and until A2 have credible independent scientific research to back up the claims that A2 milk has any extra or superior health attributes at all they can do clever marketing, hire all the spin doctors in the world and be as evangelistic as they like but I will remain dubious about their product. .

Now time to move on to more important matters

Disclosure statement

I was owner operator of a dairy farm business that supplied Parmalat and Dairy Farmers

Parmalat is a sponsor of Art4Agriculture

Art4Agriculture is a network of young people who share a passion to tell others about the pivotal role Australian farmers play in feeding the world. Mostly we are young rural people who love working in agriculture, be it in the beef, sheep, dairy, cropping, wine or horticultural industries. With our ‘home-base’ in the Illawarra region of NSW, Art4Agriculture reaches into many different communities around the nation.
Art4Agriculture has a vision for agriculture that is full of promise.
We want an innovative exciting dynamic and profitable agrifood sector. A sector that our next generation best and brightest sees as a career of first choice.
We see our role is to turn our vision for agriculture into everyone’s vision
To achieve this Art4Agriculture delivers events and activities which focus on youth, career opportunities, the environment, community and the arts – all linked with agriculture.

Our programs are tailored to both enhance the image of farmers and farming and encourage young people to consider agriculture related careers.

Our school programs are education and awareness focused and use creative arts and multimedia to engage urban and rural students in the challenges of feeding, clothing and housing the world with a declining natural resource base.

Tony Abbott – Nature has a longer memory and a sterner set of justice than we all do

Whether people like my style or not – I am confident one thing they will all say about me is I am action oriented.

I love doers. I admire people who can connect other like minded thinkers and take them with them on their journey for the greater good. And I have never met and worked with a movement that does this more effectively than Landcare.

For me 25 years on Landcare is an internationally recognised social and environmental movement

I have worked with Landcare in urban spaces and in peri urban environments. I have worked with Landcare on lifestyle farms and on commercial farms, with youth and in schools.

Landcare transcends traditional boundaries to do what nobody else in Australian agriculture has ever been able to successfully achieve in great numbers. That is getting farmers to partner and work together and with the community

Landcare is the perfect model and a shining example for agriculture of what a connected cohesive group of people can achieve together

And thanks to the efforts of Landcare we are reminded that we (as farmers) operate in a broader landscape than just our farms

Farmers who work with Landcare think about their properties as part of the broader catchment which has led to incredible environmental achievements.

I also admire the very bright mind that is Andrew Campbell whose knowledge of all things land and water and his ability to express his thoughts and opinions verbally and on paper is quite possibly unparalleled in this country

This recent paper he wrote ( with Ian Rutherfurd) for the Conversation on the government’s recent budget decisions on Landcare is a great example

Some of the text that resonated with me on the budget

It also repeats a pattern of reduced funding and weakened delivery started under former Prime Minister John Howard, and confuses improved agricultural productivity with improved environmental management.

Bait-and-switch is a retail trick where you advertise a product at a good price, pull the customers in, and then switch the product at the last moment for an inferior and/or more expensive version. Under the budget, the bait is Landcare, and the switch is the Green Army.

Funding that would have been gone to seasoned community volunteers, multiplying local efforts, will now go to projects done by inexperienced young people on less than the minimum wage.

No doubt many Landcare warriors would appreciate a hand from some willing young workers, but will the soldiers of the Green Army continue to maintain these projects into the future like the Landcarers would? Unlikely. They will bus in, do the project and leave.

Governments need to be careful about white-anting the business models of existing private sector environmental contractors, and disenfranchising passionate volunteers.

Landcare is about building social capital in rural communities and helping communities to promote sustainable land and water management and more effectively tackle common problems that cross farm boundaries.

I filtered all the content I had put in the category under The Environment on my blog and I am honoured that I have had the opportunity to work closely with the Landcare movement on my farm and beyond and introduce its ethos and philosophies and goals to so many others.

You have been very short sighted Tony Abbott – our landscape is such an integral part of the health,wealth and happiness of every Australian how can you not value it and the people who nurture it so much more than this budget shows

Inspired by Dr Seuss today

Today begins with a little bit of self reflection. Part of the journey is never forgetting that who you are is far more important than what you have.

The things that you find in your loo

I have a frog who lives in my toilet. To be polite I wont spend too much time talking about the ramifications of that. All I will say is I pay of a lot of attention when I use that room and it certainly is heart starter I can do with out when you don’t see it and it jumps out of the bowl at you when you flush. You can imagine my piercing screams

I was part of a Facebook conversation recently with YFC’s Kylie Stretton and Bron Roberts that clearly showed living in the country often meant you shared your home with diverse array of animals that you would preferred stayed outside where you didn’t want to see them either.

But aren’t frogs fascinating My frog likes to come up the loo and make his/her way up the hall to my ensuite which is tiled with beige travertine. Sometimes I know the frog is there because it croaks and keeps me a wake at night. Amazingly the frog changes colour to the match the travertine and most times I don’t see it until I put my shampoo bottle accidently on it and it screeches. Far too many heart starters in my house

The frog who lives in my bathroom ( when he is not living in my loo)

The cat spotted him and the chameleon capability came in very handy as a life saving tool

Wow fancy being able to change colour at will when the mood takes you

Color changes like this are created by special pigment cells called chromatorphores. Inside these cells, grains of pigment cause color changes by shifting their distribution. When the grains are packed together in the center of each cell, the frog is light colored. When the pigment grains spreads out within each cell, the frog’s color darkens and intensifies. See http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/mainstory/frogstory3.html

And believe it or not humans may soon be able to change colours of their clothes to suit the ambiance of where you can be just like a chameleon?

This could soon be a reality as a textile designers have now come up with an interactive electronic fabric that can change colours in seconds using a number of electronic devices. See more here

Is there an Archie coming to a town near you? We might need your help

The Archibull Prize is a program that operates on love. Its is run by a very small dedicated team who have day jobs that hopefully (I try not to think about it) feed their families

Our major funding sponsor is Paul’s Milk who are a joy to work with and we will be doing some great things with them this year

Our industry supporters ( MLA, AWI, Cotton Australia and GRDC) have grown over the years and together through the Young Farming Champions (YFC) program we are developing the next generation of agriculture’s leaders with a whole of supply chain focus mentality.

It was particularly rewarding to form an ongoing Young Farming Champions program partnership with NSW Farmers last year to help develop the next generation of skilled and knowledgeable policy formulators and drivers. We hope to be able to do this in other states but I must admit I am a little saddened that this is moving a lot slower than I envisioned

The 2014 YFC team all had the opportunity last week to spend a day behind the scenes with their industry sponsors. All of these wonderful young people are just itching to take every opportunity to talk to anyone and everyone about their industry and their career. We had some great fun sharing stories last weekend of conversations with taxi drivers who always ask “what do you do?” and “Why are you in town”? As the wise Geoff Birchnell reminded us taxi drivers are the eyes and ears of the world and they are your captive audience don’t let the opportunity pass you by .

2014 Young Farming Champions doing agriculture proud

The truly rewarding thing for me about our industry partnerships is the clever ways industry is now wholeheartedly supporting the YFC to get out there and be loud and proud about their industries at every available opportunity. Sydney Royal Easter Show and the Ekka watch out the YFC are coming to town in a big way on behalf of industry next year and it wont be stopping there.

This year by request from rural and regional Australia we are taking the Archibull Prize program to schools in their area. We did this for social reasons because our rural communities have been doing tough at the hands of mother nature and the heartfelt requests we were getting showed us this program had the potential to lift the community spirit well beyond the school playground.

When we said yes we knew the major limiting factor cost wise was cartage. Just as an example it cost us $10,000 plus to get the finalists to and from the Sydney Royal Easter Show so you can imagine what it might cost to get 4 fibreglass cows to the Atherton Tablelands let alone to all these schools

Is their an Archie in a town near you

When we started to develop the partnerships that could possibly allay some of the costs and even more importantly give our farmers and their community members an opportunity to have ownership of the program in their region, the journey as you might have noticed from previous posts this week has been fraught with frustration. But it has also delivered some great joy and new partnerships that are going to add so much value to the students experience .

One of the reasons we were bombarded by rural schools this year was the wonderful promotion ( unbeknown to me at the time) of the program by Landcare Australia and wow those Landcare groups will move heaven and earth to bring people together in the spirit of community. Huge hugs and kisses to Mary Bonet and Christie Elemam. Barnaby should be doubling the budget for Landcare not halving it.

The wonderful James Walker called in some favours from to GD Partners to have Mt Isa School of the Air’s Archie freighted to Longreach to some very happy kids last week

The adorable Katrina Nixon will be working with Fife’s Stockfeeds in Goulburn and her trusty horse float to get the cows delivered to schools in her region

Skinners Premium Meats in Cowra will be hosting the Archies in their main street frontage window prior to Landcare rallying the troops to pick them up to go to schools in Forbes and Eugowra as well as local schools. Special thanks to former Cowra girl and now Cotton OZ staffer Sophie Davidson for pulling that one off.

Speaking of Cotton Australia, breathed a big sigh of relief when we had schools in cotton country participating. I was confident there would be many hands on deck to make light work and I wasn’t disappointed. Kudos to Nigel Corish and his cotton growers team who will be helping get the Archies to St George and Goondiwindi this week.

Thanks to the Gateway Schools team in Far North Queensland we are now talking to a potential freight partner for the Atherton Tablelands and James has put his thinking cap on again for Cloncurry and Charter Towers

We could however do with some help for Wagga and Tumut. Please feel free to send me an email lynnestrong@art4agriculture.com.au if you have any ideas

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Archies on display at the 2014 Royal Easter Show

Travelling the highway of plenty to raise $10000 for Aussie Farmers

A lot of people do pro bono work on behalf of agriculture. I am just one of the many.

I however am also highly intolerant of people in paid positions in agriculture with a CANT DO attitude. This week I had too many conversations with some of those people and by Friday morning I was ropeable and I let it show. On top of this Tony Abbott has now declared Paradise a mobile phone black spot and half these people I am having these frustrating conservations with cant hear me clearly ( or say they cant) and yesterday I even did that thing you should NEVER EVER do and hung up on one of those CANT DO people.

I was punished. Whilst I was having this conversation ( or trying too ) my lunch burnt

What I can assure you is it pays to have good quality saucepans. This is recoverable albeit with a lot of elbow grease

Voila – BTW Esteele you can send my commission to the Lynne Strong Professional Development Fund

I am furious with myself and my lack of control is filling my headspace and now I cant sleep. On top of this I have used my last drop of milk to make a large latte which isn’t going to help the get to sleep cause one little bit but it is delish.

Enough about me I am writing this post to put my life into perspective and showcase a wonderful young man who names the cotton industry as his first true love who I first met last year when he joined the Young Farming Champions team

Meet Martin Murray

Martin (right) and Macca

Martin and his friend James Macca Mackenzie are planning to raise money for Aussie Helpers and rural families by riding their Postie Bikes from Moree in Northern NSW to Broome on the stunning Western Australian Coast.

Wow just looking at the route exhausts me

Twenty-year-old Martin says he and James hope to complete the trip in just seven days. “We’ll be travelling via the Plenty Highway and Tanami track, covering a total of 4279km… and a lot of that’s dirt,” he says.
“We wanted to raise money for a good cause and take our ‘Posties’ on an adventure – they add to the challenge. It wouldn’t be so much of a challenge if we took James’ Patrol,” Martin jokes.
Aussie Helpers, a volunteer group started in 2002 to help support rural families in the outback, was the obvious choice of charity for Martin and James. “We’ve always been fans of their work,” Martin says. “Raising $10,000 seems like an ambitious starting point but I believe we can make it.”

Macca’s bike is starting to look pretty impressive

Martin and Macca plan to leave on the 16th of June and aim to raise $10 000 for Aussie Helpers. You can read all about it and follow their journey here

You can cheer them

On twitter here @PostieRide

On Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/EastToWestPostieRide

Please feel free to donate to the East West Postie Ride for Farmers cause via their Everyday Hero page.

Thanks Martin and Macca you have inspired me to keep fighting the good fight. I salute you

Shout out to fellow Young Farming Champion the gorgeous Bessie at Burragan who is also supporting the boys with great press releases

Its been rough week but I made it

I had the best weekend in a long time and the week that followed was a nightmare

To all of those people out there who saw me at my worst – this one is for you

As we now have an Eggs and Poultry Young Farming Champion this image resonated for far too many reasons. Welcome to the hen house Georgia

Bring on the weekend. Look out next week here I come and I will be smiling

Special thanks to Kirsty, Ro, Marian, Penny and VL for keeping me on track . What would I do without you

Lessons to learn from the young

It is very easy to be negative about what we arent doing but its so much more exciting to showcase a job well done

Let’s use 2013 Cotton Young Farming Champion Ben Egan as a great example of this.

Ben recently gave this introductory speech to the first 2014 Young Farming Champions workshop on the weekend. The brief was ‘share your story and your passions’. Now Ben has been through the program already and did know what we were looking for and there is no denying Ben is entertaining (and on reflection that black eye from rugby game the night before should have prompted me to film him from the other side)

Click the photo or access this link to hear Ben’s speech

Ben wasn’t the only one in the room proud of what he does and excited to be able to share it. We had 20 young people in the room from 5 different industries with the same fire in their bellies. Sadly there were no dairy farmers in the room to be inspired by their peers.

Ben has also spent the last 12 months with the support of his family and friends and the amazing technology that is the GoPro camera collecting photographs and footage to create a video to share with the schools he will visit as part of the Archibull Prize (and the world) that espouses his love for farming, for cotton and a career in agriculture

I loaded Ben’s Young Farming Champion’s video yesterday and its already had 400 hits on YouTube – its a masterpiece. Click the photo or this link to see this video that is sure to go viral

But then its not surprising Ben is such a superstar at such a young age. Ben comes from an industry where my generation set the example that needs to be set if we are to change the way the world perceives agriculture

What a great example is cotton industry leader Barb Grey who is supporting and mentoring another 2013 Cotton Young Farming Champion Liz Lobsey who is running the Next Gen in Cotton Forum at the Cotton Conference in August

Here is the blurb from the website –

Next Gen In Cotton Forum to Make Its Mark at the Australian Cotton Conference

14-May-2014

The Australian Cotton Conference will cater for its younger demographic through a new Next Gen in Cotton program aimed to ensure the voices of up and coming leaders and industry participants are heard.

According to Conference Chairman Barb Grey, the Australian cotton industry has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to taking up new technologies and developing more sustainable and economical ways of operating.
“The business environment for growers and those who supply and service our industry is moving fast and changing rapidly,” she said.
“It’s essential the next generation of industry players are involved in the future development of our industry and even more essential that the next generation take some ownership of the future direction of the industry.
“We wanted to provide a forum to allow this to happen as part of our Conference program and I’m delighted that a young agronomist on our committee, Liz Lobsey, has taken the running on this,” Barb said.
The Next Gen in Cotton Forum is FREE to attend, aimed at people aged 35 and under and will:
• Recap the industry’s Vision 2029: “Carefully Grown, Naturally World’s Best’, and determine how Next Gen can have a positive impact on our vision,
• Provide tools for Next Gen to better communicate effectively on personal and professional levels
• Provide an opportunity for Next Gen to create networks and build on established connections
Darling Downs agronomist Liz Lobsey is leading the charge, and pulling together an interesting program that will deliver on the objectives above.
“We’re still in the planning phase and what we do know is that the forum will be held on Wednesday 6 August and include a breakfast and facilitated workshop session,” Liz said.
“The Next Gen breakfast forum will deliver a unique experience and provide an environment where younger people are able to speak freely with like-minded peers. We want those who have chosen to attend the Next Gen in Cotton Forum to walk away with a spring in their steps, and with a fire in their bellies about the exciting future of the cotton industry,” she said.

I know if I was government or an overseas investor this is one industry I would want to talk to.

Just to prove my point the cotton industry has just released their CottonWolf video to promote their conference. Check it out here It’s outrageous and Barb does a wolf diva cameo at the end

Wolf Diva – Barb Grey

Oh my goodness is that CEO I spot on the left.

Adam Kay wrapped in cotton. Could it get any better. Too delicious for words

For budding Ben’s out there keen to tell the great stories of their industry some pointers from Justine MacKay can be found here